Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
You see the bed before you and speak of an evil virus, yet you fear what your hand can touch. Turn your mind from the dread of empty linen to the cleansing of your soul, for it is not the blanket that defiles, but the heart’s uncleanness. If you lie down with a conscience made pure by confession and trust in Christ, that bed is undefiled, honorable as the apostle says. Do not let the devil’s dart of anxiety set your imagination ablaze; quench that fire with the water of faith, for as the red-hot iron loses its fury in the pool, so fear perishes when plunged into the promises of God.
The Lord is faithful; He who neither slumbers nor sleeps will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Did He not give His own Son out of vehement love? Then will He not also, with Him, freely give you all things, including a peaceful rest? Only do not suffer your foot to be moved by these terrors. Rise from the bed of dread as from the bed of the devil, and enter instead the bed of Christ, where the soul says, “Whether we wake or sleep, we live with Him.” This sleep is not death of body alone, but a holy repose; for the dead in vice lie insensible like dry sticks, but the one whose heart is wakeful to God rests even in slumber under His shadow.
Pray, then, with confidence, not as one touching a defiled thing, but as a child returning to the Father. Strain not at the gnat of a passing thought while swallowing the camel of unbelief. You ask God to protect you at sleep, He does protect, but He also demands your cooperation. Guard your mind as the apple of your eye, and bridle your tongue, that it speak not words of fear but of trust. Let the love of God and the patience of Christ direct your heart; then lie down and sleep, for He makes even the wilderness a safe habitation. The bed, the blanket, the pillow are His creation, good in themselves; it is the evil one who would twist them into a snare. Spurn him, and rest in the unshakeable promise that the Lord stands with you and strengthens you.
The Lord is faithful; He who neither slumbers nor sleeps will establish you and guard you from the evil one. Did He not give His own Son out of vehement love? Then will He not also, with Him, freely give you all things, including a peaceful rest? Only do not suffer your foot to be moved by these terrors. Rise from the bed of dread as from the bed of the devil, and enter instead the bed of Christ, where the soul says, “Whether we wake or sleep, we live with Him.” This sleep is not death of body alone, but a holy repose; for the dead in vice lie insensible like dry sticks, but the one whose heart is wakeful to God rests even in slumber under His shadow.
Pray, then, with confidence, not as one touching a defiled thing, but as a child returning to the Father. Strain not at the gnat of a passing thought while swallowing the camel of unbelief. You ask God to protect you at sleep, He does protect, but He also demands your cooperation. Guard your mind as the apple of your eye, and bridle your tongue, that it speak not words of fear but of trust. Let the love of God and the patience of Christ direct your heart; then lie down and sleep, for He makes even the wilderness a safe habitation. The bed, the blanket, the pillow are His creation, good in themselves; it is the evil one who would twist them into a snare. Spurn him, and rest in the unshakeable promise that the Lord stands with you and strengthens you.
